On Monday, 18th September 2017, at 6:30 pm, AlbumArte inaugurates the exhibition Long Time Between the Eyelash and the Brain by Lithuanian artist Eglė Budvytytė, who presents a selection of her video art pieces for the first time in Italy.
The show will stay open until 11th November 2017; it is curated by Benedetta Carpi De Resmini and focuses on uncommon situations and contexts juxtaposed to more ordinary and mundane elements, resulting in structural dichotomies and contrasts. In her work, Eglė Budvytytė produces short circuits between reality and fiction, opening up questions on the role of the subject in relation to wider reflections on collective society.
The selection of video art works chosen for the exhibition examines the economic and social time that marks the rhythms of the everyday life, creating momentary voids where imagination takes over.
At the start of the exhibition path, Secta (2006) stands as a counterpoint to the imaginary universe of Magicians (2011), whilst the reckless body movement of children in Shaking Children (2013) connects to the strict regulations that drive the man’s actions in As if you are catching a bomb (2013), both created in collaboration with Bart Groenendaal.
The artist’s work poses itself as a natural reaction against contemporary society, in a world scenario that is more and more governed by cyber intelligence, where social and economic conflicts are ruled by the power of virtual networks. As driven by external inputs, by some deus ex machina, collectives and individual realities challenge conventions and operates contrary to the rules imposed.
The body becomes an instrument to contest systematic behaviors, to remind everyone that our strength resides in imagination. With different times and trajectories, each of us could achieve the shared goal, that is, freedom.
During the time of the exhibition, additional events will be organized to reflect on such issues.
Eglė Budvytytė (1981) is an artist based in Vilnius and Amsterdam. She makes videos performance situations to explore the relationships between body, architecture, environment and audience. By choreographing performers to enact gestures that can often seem contradictory to their surroundings, uncannily out of context and sometimes filled with a sense of emergency, she looks at the body’s ability to challenge conventions of conduct and the narratives of normativity implicit in public spaces. Her work was shown amongst others at Liste art fair in Basel, Art Dubai commissions 2017, 19th Biennale of Sydney, De Appel Arts Centre, CAC in Vilnius, and Stedeljik Museum in Amsterdam. Egle was resident at Le Pavillon, Palais de Tokyo (Paris, FR, 2012) and at Wiels, Contemporary art centre, (Brussels, BE, 2013).
The project has received the patronage of the Assessorato alla Cultura del Municipio II (Department for Culture of the 2nd Municipality) of Roma Capitale. It was developed with the support of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, in collaboration with Postidėja. Thanks to IRI REAL ESTATE.
AlbumArte whishes also to thank Julija Reklaitė, cultural attaché of the Republic of Lithuania.